Snapshots
by Raine Is Crazy
Summary: If someone had a camera on Harry and his friends for a couple of mintues around every Valentine's Day at Hogwarts, this might be what would develop on the film. Rated for some alcohol abuse. Eventual HHr. COMPLETE!
1. Gather

**Disclaimer: Bah. You know as well as I do that BLAHBLAHBLAH...**

**A/N: Hello, all! I expect I'll finish this story much faster than any of my others. It's only going to be seven chapters long, each considerably shorter than some of my normal chapter sizes. In fact, _really_ short. It will be a series of snapshots of moments in Harry's life, one from each Valentine's Day he spends at Hogwarts. This idea was borrowed from "polka spots", who did a similar thing only with Lily Evans, and it wasn't just on Valentine's Day in hers. Go check out her story, it's awesome!**

**A note – I won't be using direct quotes from the books for snapshots of years one through five, I'll be making up the moments. Firstly, that would be plagiarism, and secondly, no fun. Enjoy:)**

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SNAPSHOT – FIRST YEAR

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"Please, Hermione. Come on."

"No."

"It's just one essay."

"I told you once, I told you twice, I told you a thousand times, no!" Hermione glared at Harry from over the top of the ancient and immense book she was reading. He had been bugging her persistently for the past half hour or so to let him copy her Transfiguration essay. It would probably be easier than he was making it out to be, but he'd already just finished three other assignments from different classes as well. He wanted to sleep. His head flopped forward and thunked on the table.

"It's too hard."

"Rubbish," Hermione snapped crossly. "I finished mine before you even started your homework. Just get it done!"

"Bother. I don't want to. I mean, I can't. Please, just this once? I'll never ask you for your homework again, promise."

"Load of old tosh."

She rolled her eyes and propped the book vertically up on the table, closing herself off from Harry, who sighed. "I'm all worn out from Quidditch, and I've done everything else. Please? Please? Please, please please please?"

All he got in reply was a growl. Shaking his head, Harry put away his quill and inkwell, and rolled up the parchment he was going to write on. He got up, stretched and yawned, then gathered up his schoolbooks and slung them into his bag, trudging away in the direction of the boys' dormitories. After he was up two steps on the stairs, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Oh, here," Hermione said impatiently, and handed him a scroll of parchment. He unrolled a little bit and looked at the heading – 'Transfiguration Essay On The Subject Of Pins And Needles', it read. He glanced up at his friend, who had her hands on her hips. "If you spill one drop of ink on it, I'll hex you. And don't copy it word for word, then Professor McGonagall will know you did. Get it back to me by tomorrow morning." With that, she stomped back to her table and picked up the giant book. Harry felt a wide grin spread on his face.

"Thanks, Hermione!" he called, and she raised a hand but didn't turn around. Harry fairly skipped up the winding stone staircase to his dormitory, and proceeded to carefully copy Hermione's essay.

Downstairs in the common room, the corners of her mouth twitched as she thought of his eager face when she handed him the essay she'd finished yesterday. Silly Harry, she thought, shaking her head.

"Oi, Hermione!" came Ron's voice from the portrait hole, which he'd just stepped through. She looked up resignedly.

"What?"

"Can I borrow your Transfiguration essay?"

"No."

"Why not?" Ron whined. "Come on, it's just once!"

"Harry's got it."

"Why d'you always let _Harry_ copy your notes!"

"Because he doesn't ask as often as you do, Ron, now go away, I'm trying to read," Hermione huffed, and Ron thumped up the stairs moodily. She almost – almost – laughed when she imagined her two friends huddled on the dormitory floor over her essay, both trying to read and copy it at the same time.

The next morning she was the first one in Gryffindor Tower awake again. When she reached the common room, already fully dressed, she nearly stepped on her essay, lying on the floor at the foot of the stairs. There was something attached to it; she picked it up and looked at the tiny, scrawled note.

_Thanks for letting me use your essay. I didn't copy word for word. Harry._

_PS - Happy Valentine's Day._

Hermione laughed and shook her head. She'd almost forgotten what day it was. As she unrolled the parchment to check it, she rolled her eyes at a splotch of ink in one corner. Boys.


	2. Pose

**Disclaimer: Bah and blah.**

**A/N: Second chapter already, scary I know. But funfunfun:D:D:D:D Yeah anyshvay so, how'd y'all like the first insert? Hope you'll enjoy this one too. :) Ta!**

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**SNAPSHOT – SECOND YEAR

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"Ron, have you seen my glasses anywhere?"

"No, why?"

"Because I can't _see_ without them. Help me find them, will you?" Harry asked, grumbling to himself as he leaned close to his bedside table to look for them. His head hurt when he squinted too much, but how else would he find anything? With an exasperated sigh, he kicked a bedpost and promptly stubbed his toe. Then, to add insult to injury, as he was hopping around blindly, he tripped (if you can call it tripping on one foot) over his own trunk and went sprawling across the floor of the dormitory. Ron doubled over laughing.

"Shut up, you," Harry growled, clutching his toe and his elbow. "I'm gonna go look in the common room."

With that, he went carefully down the stone stairs and squinted around the large room before him, trying to catch a glimpse of a small reflection of light on a table or something. Concentrating on attempting to see, he failed to notice Fred and George sneak up behind him and tap him on the head with one of their wands. Harry whirled around.

"Oi, what're you two at?" he began to say, but instead of words, two-dimensional pink and red hearts floated out of his mouth, with no sound. Harry glared furiously at them. "I can't see, help me find my glasses!" he wanted desperately to say, but all that came out were more hearts. Fred and George were laughing. What was it with Weasleys laughing at him today? Harry thought miserably to himself, and kicked the corner of a nearby couch in disgust, and the earlier incident in the dorm room replayed itself.

"You'd think you'd have learned not to kick things by now," came a familiar female voice from behind Harry. He turned around and didn't have to squint to see who it was (although he squinted anyway). Hermione held something up and suppressed a giggle. "Looking for these?" she asked, dangling his glasses in front of him. Harry took them in relief.

"Yeah, thanks. Where'd you find them? Hey, I can talk again!"

"What?"

Fred and George burst out laughing, and Hermione lifted an eyebrow. "I don't want to know. You left these on the desk where you were working last night. You were probably too tired to remember them, it was late."

Harry put them on and blinked as everything came into focus. "Hallelujah, I can see!" he cried, making Hermione, Fred and George laugh again. Ron came down the stairs just then and grinned.

"Found them then, did you?"

"She did," Harry said in answer. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"_She_ has a name, thank you very much. Now, if you'll excuse me, I was just going to deliver a v- something. Ta-ta!"

"OOH! Hermione's got a secret VALENTINE for someone!" hooted Fred while George made outrageous kissing noises.

"Bet it's Lockhart," Ron said to Harry, grinning and nudging him. Hermione flushed scarlet.

"It is _not_ a Valentine's card, and it's _not_ for Professor Lockhart!"

"What is it then? Looks like a card to me," George said offhandedly, whipping the smallish pink envelope out of her hands from behind her and holding it up to a light. "I can just make out what it says on the inside – _Dear Professor Lockhart, I love you, mwah mwah mwah_ –"

"STOP IT! That's not funny, and that is NOT what it says!" Hermione cried, her face burning as she jumped and tried unsuccessfully to get the envelope back. George held it above her head, teasing. "Give it back!"

"Say 'please'."

"GIVE ME THE –"

"Oh, go on, give her the Valentine," Harry offered. Ron glanced at Hermione's bright red face, took in the fact that she was looking murderous, and nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Fine," George sighed resignedly, and handed it to Hermione. As he did, he tried to catch a glimpse of who it was addressed to on the other side of the pink envelope, but she snatched it away before he could see. "Bah, you're no fun. Fred, shall we?"

"We shall, George, we shall. Happy Valentine's to you, dear brother," Fred called over his shoulder as he and George pranced off out the portrait hole arm in arm.

Hermione glared at their retreating backs, and was about to follow them out when she remembered something and turned back around to look at Harry and Ron.

"Oh – uh – Happy Valentine's Day to you both," she said, and hurried out into the corridor. Harry and Ron glanced at each other.

"Definitely for Lockhart," Ron said, deadpan. Harry nodded and they both laughed.


	3. Focus

**Disclaimer: sigh ...**

**A/N: OMG RAPID-FIRE SUCCESSION CHAPTERS:D:D:D:D en't you proud? This is a short one though. Enjoy!**

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**SNAPSHOTS – THIRD YEAR**

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"I don't GET IT."

Harry sighed in frustration and threw his quill down. The ink had dried on the tip of it, because he hadn't written anything yet. "How am I supposed to think about what goes into some stupid potion when my mind's on Sirius Black!"

Hermione glanced up briefly from her Charms assignment. "Just try to concentrate, I'm not letting you copy mine."

"Oh come on, he's right," Ron protested with a moan. "It's too stressful. We can't do it. We're not built like you, Hermione, we're just not as smart as you. I suppose you like rubbing that in."

She flushed a bit. "Stop it, I didn't say that and you know it. Keep writing, you'll be done eventually."

"But look at what day it is!" pleaded Ron, attempting to put on a puppy-dog face. "It's _Valentine's Day_, for Merlin's sake. Do us a favour this _one time?_"

The other two both laughed. "One time, Ron?" Hermione chortled. "Good one. And I realize that it's Valentine's Day. That does not change my answer in the slightest."

"Aw, Hermione!" he whined as she turned back to her own work and ignored him. "It's not the bloody end of the world ... just help us with it then? Not copying, just help."

Harry and Ron both made puppy faces at her this time. With an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes, Hermione shook her head again. "I'm doing my own stuff, I've already finished the Potions essay. Do your own work."

"Fine." Ron threw down his quill as well and slumped back in his chair, a dejected look on his face. "We'll just fail, then. How would it feel to have _that_ on your conscience!"

He stood up, left his work strewn across the table, and stomped out through the portrait hole. Harry glanced at Hermione, who was looking after Ron and debating with herself whether to go after him or not. "Uh ..." Harry said gallantly, after trying to think of something to say. Her gaze remained on the door to the hall outside. "You, uh, okay?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. I think I'll go after him and calm him down a bit," she decided, and rose to her feet. "I'll be right back."

"Okay. Don't kill each other," Harry said, waving her on. He turned back to his Potions assignment and sighed heavily as Hermione hurried out after their ruffled friend. "Oh well," he said to no one in particular. "Happy Valentine's Day to me."


	4. Aim

**Disclaimer: Bah.**

**A/N: Hullo, all. WOW I'm getting this one out fast:D:D:D:D I also expect to work on another of my stories this weekend as well, if not more than one. I have absolutely nothing to do all day tomorrow lol. Enjoy fourth year!**

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**SNAPSHOTS – FOURTH YEAR**

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"Just _send_ her one already, mate! It's obvious you like her, and she's not _really_ going out with Diggory."

"Are you mad? No!" Harry protested. "I can't just –"

"Sure you can. Go on, then, I'll help you write it."

Ron grabbed a loose piece of parchment and smoothed it out on the table, being careful not to get any of his breakfast on it. He looked through his bag and produced a quill, thrusting it at Harry as he shoveled heart-shaped poached eggs into his mouth with his other hand. Harry took the quill reluctantly but didn't move to write anything down.

"Well, start off with '_Dear Cho_,' or something. Write it down already!" Ron urged, and Harry slowly wrote Cho's name at the top of the parchment. "Okay, all you need is three more words. _Happy Valentine's Day_. And you're done! Right, tie it up in a roll, I've got a pink bow here –"

Harry, wincing all the while, wrote down _Happy Valentine's Day_, and lifted the quill. "Oh my god, I can't send this. I can't send it. What if she recognizes my writing?" he asked, looking and feeling terrified. Ron laughed.

"She's never seen your writing before, mate, just tie it up and send it, go on. Oh, here," he said impatiently, and took the parchment from him. He rolled it into a tight cylinder, tied it up with the pink bow, and handed it back to Harry. "Just give it to an owl that comes nearby."

"Where'd you get a pink bow anyway?" Harry asked, staring blankly at the parchment in his hands.

"Filched it from Ginny. She was writing all kinds of Valentines and I relieved her of one ribbon. Now send it! I went to all that trouble, you might as well just do it."

Harry bit his lip and looked extremely nervous. "But what if she –"

"She won't. If you don't send it, I will. Okay that's it, give it here!"

Ron was quite impatient to get the thing sent. Rather _too_ impatient, in Harry's opinion. He looked suspiciously at his friend and held the Valentine out of his reach. "Why are you so eager to get me to send this, eh? There something I should know?"

"What are you talking about? Just send the –"

Harry grinned slightly. "Are you trying to get me out of the way for someone? Go on, who is it?"

Ron turned a deep scarlet colour, redder than his hair (which was definitely saying something). "Dunno what you're talking about," he muttered. Suddenly, he lunged forward and tried to grab the parchment. Harry anticipated it, however, and leaned back so that Ron couldn't get at it. He laughed at the embarrassed look on his friend's face as he tried to climb across Harry.

"You _are_ trying to get me out of the way! You're encouraging me about Cho so that I won't see whoever it is! Who d'you fancy, go on, tell me."

"Nobody!" Ron exclaimed in a slightly strangled voice, and gave up trying to reach the parchment, sitting back on the bench. He glared at Harry for a few seconds, while the black-haired boy grinned back at him. Finally Ron blinked and looked away. "Really. It's nobody."

"Okay, but I'm not sending this until you tell me."

"Good morning!"

Both boys looked up at Hermione as she sat down on Ron's other side and grabbed a slice of toast cut into a heart shape and started spreading it with jam. "Happy Valentine's Day, both of you! Harry, are you feeling any better?"

"About what?" he asked.

"The second task," she answered casually, taking a bite of toast. Harry choked.

"_Thanks_. I had almost forgotten about it. Oh, god ... I'm not feeling any better _now_ ..."

"Well done," Ron chided, and flicked a piece of pink confetti at Hermione. She retaliated by flicking some back at him, and soon enough, there was a cloud of the stuff in the air for about three metres around. Harry rolled his eyes and poked his fork into his heart-shaped omelette. They were always fighting over something, and it got annoying. They should be thinking about how they could help him figure out the bloody second task, instead of throwing tiny pink hearts at each other like fools.

"Oh!"

Harry looked up at Hermione's quiet exclamation, and his gaze fell upon an owl that had just landed in front of her. It held out its leg, to which was tied a red roll of parchment. Both he and Ron watched closely as she opened it and read the contents. Her cheeks had flushed a light pink by the time she'd finished, and she quickly folded it up and put it away. Ron raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who's THAT from?"

"No one," Hermione said quickly, but her eyes flicked to the Slytherin table briefly. Harry caught the look but didn't say anything. Ron saw nothing, of course, but that didn't stop him from guessing.

"Was it from Vicky? It was, wasn't it? Bloody hell, Hermione, he's just using you to get closer t–"

"RON! Will you _stop_ going on and on about Viktor? It's absolutely none of your business whatsoever, stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!" Hermione cried, blushing more deeply and standing up, fists clenched. The Valentine she'd received was crumpled in her hand. Ron looked slightly shocked at the outburst, but stayed firm.

"I'm just telling you that he's not the best guy to be dating!" he persisted angrily. Hermione opened her mouth to snap out some fiery retort, changed her mind, and glared darkly at him before whirling on her heel and stalking furiously out of the Great Hall. Ron gaped after her, mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He turned back to stare incredulously at Harry. "She's gone bloody mad, she has!"

Harry shrugged. "She's just ticked off because you keep ratting on Krum. He didn't actually seem like that horrible of a –"

"You, too?" Ron interrupted, looking disgusted. "Whatever. Are you gonna finish that?" he asked, pointing at Harry's plate.

Harry, not having heard his friend, turned and asked, "Where'd your Valentine spirit go, mate?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked defensively, looking perturbed. "I just want to know if you want your omelette."

"...Oh. Nevermind, you can have it," Harry sighed, shaking his head and getting to his feet. "I think I'm going to go have a nap."

"Harry, classes start in half an hour."

"I don't feel very well."

"You going to send that anyway?" Ron asked, pointing at the parchment in Harry's hand. Harry looked down at it; he'd forgotten about it until now. He shook his head.

"Nah. She'd just think it was stupid," Harry said, and walked out of the Great Hall. Ron watched him go for a second or two, then shrugged, slid Harry's untouched omelette onto his own plate and started eating.


	5. Flash

**Disclaimer: Bah.**

**A/N: Hi again! I realize that the last four chapters were sort of … un-Valentine-ic, but don't worry. It gets better from here on in. Enjoy:)**

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**SNAPSHOTS – FIFTH YEAR**

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"Good _morning!_ Happy Valentine's Day, Ron! Happy Valentine's Day, Neville! Happy Valentine's Day, Seamus, Dean!"

"Bloody hell, Harry, 's six in the morning."

"G' back to sleep!"

"But isn't today _just wonderful?_ The sky is blue, the grass is green –"

"It's freaking early, the sky's still black, and it's winter, there isn't any grass."

"Fine, ruin my fun. But I'll have you know that I'm happy today, for once," Harry announced airily, getting dressed in the dark. When he'd finished, and it did take a while, he pranced over to the door and walked straight into it, knocking his head on the thick wood. Snickers filled the room, but he thought nothing of it as he opened the door and slipped out into the stairwell leading down to the Gryffindor common room.

When he got down there, he sat down on the couch and stared into the fire. He could swear he saw Cho's face in it, but of course he was seeing things. It was early in the morning on the weekend, for Merlin's sake. Harry rubbed his eyes and her face disappeared, but he still felt anxious about the upcoming day.

He began to pace around the circular room, his footsteps quick on the thick scarlet carpet. Where would they go? How fast would they walk? Would they be with a group of her friends, or alone? Harry wasn't sure what would be worse. With her friends, he supposed, because at least on their own there would be minimal giggling. He couldn't stand giggling.

How long had he been pacing now? Seconds? Hours? Was it time to go already, and him not even ready yet? "Oh, god," he moaned quietly to himself. He had begun the day cheerful as any pixie in a room full of glass, but now he was a nervous wreck. No, of course it wasn't time to go yet, no one else was up. Harry abruptly turned around and collapsed face-up on the couch, staring hopelessly at the high ceiling. "I'm going to completely botch it, and that'll be the end of Cho."

"You aren't going to botch anything, Harry," said a weary voice from the direction of the stairs. Harry lifted his head just so that he could see Hermione, dressed in pajamas and a huge bathrobe, yawning and coming slowly over to the couch. He flopped back down dejectedly, and her face appeared above him.

"What time is it?"

"Six thirty."

"Oh, sorry – did I wake you up?"

"Yes," she said frankly, but smiled while she did. "You nervous about your date with Cho today?"

"Are you kidding? I'm dead terrified," he answered, a shaky grin coming onto his face. Hermione laughed quietly and came around to the front of the couch, sitting down by Harry's head. "What if she tries to ... you know ... kiss me again?"

"Do you want her to?"

Harry turned a furious red. "Well – I mean, I dunno – last time wasn't – but –"

His stammering made Hermione laugh again. "Don't worry. Just go with whatever happens, and I'm sure you'll be fine. She does like you a lot, after all."

"You think so?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Of course. I _know_ so. She's always looking at you, she kissed you for heaven's sake, relax! It will be fun."

"Okay, if you say so. What ... what are you doing today?"

"Oh, I'll probably either stay here and finish my homework or go to Hogsmeade with Ron and Ginny or something."

"You're not serious."

"What?"

"_Finish your homework?_"

Hermione laughed again. "I have an Ancient Runes essay due in a week, I want to get it done. Don't look at me like that," she said, sticking her tongue out at the black-haired boy who was staring incredulously up at her. "I'll have you know that you need to get good marks in everything if you still want to be an Auror, and you should finish all your work ahead of time too."

"But _you_ don't have Quidditch."

"It doesn't matter, Harry! You still should."

"It matters when you have Angelina constantly on your back to get you to come to practices, and avoiding detentions with Umbridge, and trying to figure out how girls work ... it's not funny!" he exclaimed when Hermione bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "Girls are complicated, I don't like them very much."

"You seem to like _Cho_ quite a bit."

"Shutup, you."

They both laughed at that, and then sat in comfortable silence for a long while, both looking into the fire and each seeing different things. When students began coming down and filling up the common room, Hermione got to her feet and stretched. "Have fun today," she winked at Harry, and started back up to her dormitory to get dressed. Harry shook his head after her and sighed as he got up too, deciding to go down to breakfast. He was going to need nourishment to keep him from fainting with nerves later.

Just when he'd reached the portrait hole, he heard Hermione call him from the bottom of the stairs, and looked over his shoulder.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Harry!"

He smiled.


	6. Snapshot

**Disclaimer: Bah.**

**A/N: Me again. WOW, I _am_ getting this out fast. Maybe the whole story will be done in one week:O That would be awesome and LOVELY. :) As always, love you guys and enjoy!**

**PS – Serindipity, love, if your situation is just like Ron/Hermione/Harry's, then pretend you're Harry, okay? I think you know why. ;)**

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**SNAPSHOTS – SIXTH YEAR**

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"...And then he flushed the toilet and it all came up in his face!"

The room roared with laughter. It was late evening on Saturday, Valentine's Day. About twenty teenage boys from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had gathered in the Room of Requirement to talk about how horrible the concept of Valentine's Day was. Everyone was either holding a Butterbeer or a Firewhisky, or a mix of the two, and they were taking turns telling stories of pranks, girls, and the other various things that teenage wizards talk about.

As Terry Boot told them all about his experience with a date gone horribly wrong, Harry and Ron laughed and sympathized with him with the rest of the group. Ron looked into his drink and swirled it around, then took a long swig. It felt refreshingly cool going down his throat, and it diminished his headache. Already he was thinking less about the events of earlier that day. Harry noticed his friend's now empty bottle, and glanced sideways at him.

"You alright?"

"I'm _fine!_ Never been better," Ron scoffed, his words slightly slurred together. "Oi, Dean! Get me another one!" he called across the room. Dean complied cheerfully, tossing a new bottle of Butterbeer at Ron. The redhead looked at it, pushed himself up off the couch and walked over to the case of drinks, puling out a Firewhisky instead. He collapsed back down beside Harry with it in his hand, popped off the cap, and drank some. The wisps of smoke that trickled out his ears went almost unnoticed; just about everyone else in the room had them too.

"Look, it's not your fault about Hermione, mate."

"I know!" Ron said loudly. Some of the boys nearby looked around in their direction. "'S not my fault at _all_, is it? The hell she bloody go and do that for, eh?" Inbetween every couple of words, Ron drank. "Stupid b–"

"Ron! You don't mean that," Harry exclaimed. "That's the Firewhisky talking, you've got no tolerance for it."

"I've got no bloody _what?_ Tollance? I think it's _you_ who don't know what he's talkin' about! 'Ave one on the house, mate, go on," Ron slurred, frowning. Harry took his friend by the shoulders and made Ron look at him while the redhead finished off the bottle. "All in one go, 'd you see that? Haha! I'll show _you_ who c'n forget about it, Hermione!"

"Ron, I'm Harry, not Hermione."

"He's damn trashed, he is," said Seamus over the back of the couch. "How many's he had?"

"Two Butterbeers and two whiskies already," Harry answered, concerned. "He's got almost no tolerance for the stuff. I'll probably end up dragging him back up to Gryffindor Tower later, over my shoulder."

Seamus laughed. "Don't let him have any more, or – oops, too late. Dean, why'd you let him have one?"

Ron had already opened the second bottle of Firewhisky and was gulping it quickly. Harry grabbed it away from him and held it out of his friend's reach. "Oi! Give us back the drink, mate, what's the big idea?" Ron yelled drunkenly, some of his words indecipherable. "I need it so I can show that horrible girl I don't care either!"

"Ron, of course she cares, she just doesn't –"

"BAH! Lousy devil-spawn, I'll teach _her_ to make a fool outta me –!"

"She didn't make a fool out of you, Ron, she just said she didn't like you that wa–"

"SCREW 'ER! That's what I say, screw 'em all! Who needs girls anyway! Good-for-nothing –" Ron broke off, tears forming in his unfocused eyes. He poked feebly at Harry's hand, which was holding onto the front of Ron's shirt. "Why'd she go and do that, eh? I didn't do _nothing_ to her, all I wanted was she said no all out in public an' it was horrible, I felt like I was gonna freaking die of shame, mate, bloody BUGGER OF A GIRL!"

With that, Ron slumped down on the couch, weeping miserably. Harry, unsure of what to do, tentatively patted his friend on the arm. Ron tipped his head back and closed his eyes, and within a minute he was completely passed out and drooling slightly. Harry shook his head and got to his feet, Ron's half-finished Firewhisky still in his hand. He looked at it for a moment or two, then shrugged and downed the rest of it in one long swig.

"Come on, up you get," he muttered to the unconscious Ron. When he didn't respond at all, Harry put the empty bottle on the floor and hoisted his friend's dead weight up over his own shoulder, as he'd predicted earlier. "Seamus, gimme a hand here, will you?"

The other boy nodded and complied, and the two of them made their way out of the bright and noisy room and out into the considerably quieter corridor. Working slowly, they dragged Ron all the way through the castle to the Fat Lady's portrait, spoke the password, and laid him out on a couch before the fire. "There's no way I'm going up six flights of stairs with him," was the way Harry put it, Seamus laughing and agreeing.

At that point, Lavender and Parvati emerged from the girls' dormitories, each dressed in fluffy pink and purple bathrobes and matching slippers. They burst out into a fit of giggles when they saw Harry and Seamus. "Happy Valentine's Day!" they both laughed.

"You've told me that about twenty times today..." Seamus muttered, but grinned at the girls anyway. "Ron's completely wasted here, ladies, don't be too loud now."

"Ooh! Is it because of Hermione?" Lavender squealed, tiptoeing over and peering down at the unconscious teenager. "You know, she hasn't left the dormitory room since this morning, she's all bent out of shape about it as much as he is! Well, she didn't drink herself into oblivion, but she's upset!"

"Really?" Harry asked, running his fingers through his messy hair absently. "Hell, today's been one of those days where everybody's mad at everybody else and nothing goes right...damn, I hate it when that happens."

"I always _thought_ Ron liked her, but Hermione I was never sure about," Parvati said in hushed tones. "Still, to turn him down like that, in front of everyone? Harsh!"

"Yeah," Seamus agreed. "Why's _she_ upset, though?"

"Oh, I don't know," Lavender said frustratedly. "We tried asking her, but all she did was moan on and on about how it would never be the same and poor Ron and she looked _really_ worried about something, but wouldn't say what." She sighed. "Oh well."

"Worried? Ah, I'll never understand girls...I think I'm going to turn in," Harry said.

"You sure, mate?" Seamus asked. "It's only eleven. The night's still young!"

"Too much on my mind to enjoy it," Harry grinned apologetically, and Seamus clapped him on the shoulder.

"Right. Goodnight then," he said, and swaggered back out the portrait hole, Lavender and Parvati giggling and following him, still dressed in nightclothes. Harry rolled his eyes and threw a blanket over Ron, then headed up to bed. Happy Valentine's Day, indeed.


	7. Develop

**Disclaimer: Bah.**

**A/N: LAST CHAPTER! YAY:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D Lol I'm listening to an extremely fun song, so this will be an AWESOME chapter, longest yet, I promise:D:D:D W00T okay so yeah this is the last chapter of Snapshots, I hope you all enjoyed reading it:) It's been fun!**

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**SNAPSHOTS – SEVENTH YEAR**

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"Good morning Harry," Hermione yawned, covering her mouth as she sat down heavily beside him on the bench. Harry looked up from his cereal – a wizarding version of Lucky Charms, in which the marshmallows sang when you ate them, and today they were all hearts – and said hello.

"Happy Valentine's Day."

"And to you. Hey, do you ever think about the fact that it's our _last_ Valentine's Day at Hogwarts?"

Harry's head dropped down and his nose nearly embedded itself in his breakfast. "You have said that about every occasion that we've had so far this year."

"Yes, but don't you? I mean, we aren't _ever_ going to have another Valentine's Day again while we're at this school. It feels like seven years has gone by in just _that_," she said, snapping her fingers to emphasize. "I am unbelievably nervous about N.E.W.T.s and getting a job and what if I don't get high enough marks to get into the one I want, or I don't know what I want to do, or –"

"Hermione, stop scaring yourself. Stop scaring _me_," Harry said, eyebrows raised. "It's only Valentine's Day, it's still _February_. Exams aren't until the end of May and June. And besides, they'll be as easy for you as anything else you've ever gotten perfect on."

"I don't always get p–"

Harry laughed, interrupting her. "Don't even try. _Ow_. What the –?"

A giant floating red heart had just collided with the back of Harry's head. He looked up – there were tons of them, all floating in midair around the room. His had just happened to hang low enough that it could bop him one.

"Good _morning!_ Happy Valentine's Day!" whistled an altogether-too-cheery voice as Ron and Luna Lovegood sat down at the Gryffindor table beside each other. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other, each thinking the same thing – _here we go again_...

"Luna, isn't the Ravenclaw table supposed to be over there?" Hermione asked as politely as she could. The blonde-haired girl turned to face her and smiled dreamily.

"Yes, but I'm allowed to sit here too. I asked Professor McGonagall for permission so that I could be with my honey-bun _all_ the time," she sighed. Harry leaned around Hermione so that he could speak too.

"Er, but you're still in Ravenclaw, so you can't really go into the Gryffindor dorms, right?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Luna pouted, and then brightened again. "But it doesn't matter. Ronald is still my little lovey-dovey honey-bunny cutie-patootie little mushykins, aren't you, sweetie?" she cooed at Ron. He blushed bright red.

"You don't have to put it _exactly_ that way, do you?" he asked, then laughed. Luna stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, I don't _have_ to..." she giggled, twirling her fingers in Ron's hair. She picked up a heart-shaped biscuit and put half of it in her mouth, then leaned down so that Ron could bite off the other half, which he did. More of this sickening, not-exactly-flirtatious mush went on for a while, with Harry and Hermione wincing every time their friend's girlfriend of four months said something to him. After a while, it came to the point where it was nearly unbearable.

The couple had begun kissing and were really getting into it when Harry cleared his throat loudly. "A-_hem!_"

Luna broke away from Ron and looked around dazedly. "What time is it?" she asked Ron, arms around his neck. He shrugged. "We'd best be going soon, I think, love!"

"Oh, right!" Ron exclaimed, his face lighting up with the air of a lightbulb switching on. "Special day planned," he said rather sheepishly to Harry and Hermione, who forced smiles onto their faces for his sake.

"Sounds like fun, you'd better get going!" Hermione said, falsely cheerful. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to waste _one minute!_"

"They're right, hon, let's go," Ron said eagerly, getting up at the same time Luna did. "Happy Valentine's Day, you two!" he winked, and they left the Great Hall arm in arm, Luna's giant heart-shaped earrings flashing in the light behind her. Harry and Hermione waited until their friends had disappeared from sight, and then turned to each other and burst out laughing.

"Lord, I thought they'd have melted into piles of goo by now," Harry chortled.

"I know! I never really even expected they'd go out, though Luna seemed to like him in fifth year. And to think, they were good friends for a long while there."

"What's so strange about that?"

"Well, friends don't usually end up dating, do they?" Hermione asked, and then paused. She and Harry glanced at each other for what seemed like an hour, and then both looked away. Hermione fiddled nervously with her napkin in her lap, and Harry coughed, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. They both looked back at the same time, and laughed.

"Anyway, I'm full. I'm going to go get dressed for Hogsmeade," Harry said quickly, and Hermione nodded.

"Yes. I think I will too, I'll just finish my toast here. Meet you in the Entrance Hall in fifteen minutes?"

"Sure. See you soon," Harry smiled, getting up, and strolled away, whistling.

When he reached the Gryffindor common room, he was still smiling and whistling. Neville looked up from his chess game with Ginny as Harry passed by. "Good morning, Harry! Good mood, eh?"

"Happy Valentine's Day, Neville," Harry grinned. "Happy Valentine's Day."


End file.
